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They said during the launch live broadcast that SpaceX intends to fly paying tourists by next year. Apparently many tourists have also visited the space statio

They said during the launch live broadcast that SpaceX intends to fly paying tourists by next year. Apparently many tourists have also visited the space station. https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-dragon-will-fly-space-tourists.html https://www.space.com/spacex-crew-dragon-will-fly-space-tour...

JshWright 6y ago
I'm not sure I would call seven people "many".
- gibolt 6y ago
  Only 562 have been to orbital space so far. A 1% increase on the first flight is significant. It can only increase exponentially from there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_travelers_by_name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_travelers_by_nam...
  - thu2111 6y ago
    That's not true. It could stay a trivial endeavor forever given there's really nothing to do in space.
pvarangot 6y ago
Yeah they stopped doing that a while ago and today when watching the launch with friends I was surprised they didn't know it was a thing. When Mark Shuttleworth went there it was all over the tech news.
greeneggs 6y ago
Space tourism to the ISS is just US taxpayers paying for billionaires' vacations. Yes, NASA charges a fee, but it is tiny relative to the cost of the service. If somebody develops a private space station, great. Until then, this isn't an industry that deserves any support.
- somebrody 6y ago
  https://www.space.com/bigelow-spacex-tourist-flights-space-station.html https://www.space.com/bigelow-spacex-tourist-flights-space-s...
  - bolasanibk 6y ago
    Bigelow Aerospace lays off entire workforce - Mar 23 2020 https://spacenews.com/bigelow-aerospace-lays-off-entire-workforce/ https://spacenews.com/bigelow-aerospace-lays-off-entire-work...
    - somebrody 6y ago
      Thanks! Too bad for now
- Animats 6y ago
  If somebody develops a private space station Bigelow Aerospace? Looks like they just laid everyone off.
- BorisTheBrave 6y ago
  Is that true? Most of the cost of rockets seems to be the r&d, there's economies of scale to doing more launches. I'd have hoped nasa is smart enough to charge more than the marginal cost of one more launch.

JshWright 6y ago

I'm not sure I would call seven people "many".

gibolt 6y ago
Only 562 have been to orbital space so far. A 1% increase on the first flight is significant. It can only increase exponentially from there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_travelers_by_name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_travelers_by_nam...
- thu2111 6y ago
  That's not true. It could stay a trivial endeavor forever given there's really nothing to do in space.

pvarangot 6y ago

Yeah they stopped doing that a while ago and today when watching the launch with friends I was surprised they didn't know it was a thing. When Mark Shuttleworth went there it was all over the tech news.

greeneggs 6y ago

Space tourism to the ISS is just US taxpayers paying for billionaires' vacations. Yes, NASA charges a fee, but it is tiny relative to the cost of the service. If somebody develops a private space station, great. Until then, this isn't an industry that deserves any support.

somebrody 6y ago
https://www.space.com/bigelow-spacex-tourist-flights-space-station.html https://www.space.com/bigelow-spacex-tourist-flights-space-s...
- bolasanibk 6y ago
  Bigelow Aerospace lays off entire workforce - Mar 23 2020 https://spacenews.com/bigelow-aerospace-lays-off-entire-workforce/ https://spacenews.com/bigelow-aerospace-lays-off-entire-work...
  - somebrody 6y ago
    Thanks! Too bad for now
Animats 6y ago
If somebody develops a private space station Bigelow Aerospace? Looks like they just laid everyone off.
BorisTheBrave 6y ago
Is that true? Most of the cost of rockets seems to be the r&d, there's economies of scale to doing more launches. I'd have hoped nasa is smart enough to charge more than the marginal cost of one more launch.